536: Chapter 536

The morning light at the bottom of the cliff dispelled the chill, and Qin Yun leaned against a jagged, strange rock, gasping for breath.

A sense of physical weakness washed over him, and every breath he took tugged at the wounds all over his body.

He lowered his head and looked at the simple, dark gold ring on his left index finger, his brow furrowed.

The origin of this ring was far too bizarre, and it was undoubtedly connected to the disappearance of that evil entity last night.

He had tried several times but could not remove it; it was as if it had fused with his own flesh and blood.

The most urgent task was to leave this place.

Qin Yun forced himself to stand up and scanned his surroundings.

The cliff walls were steep, nearly vertical, and covered in slippery moss and sharp rocks, leaving absolutely nowhere to find a foothold.

He looked up, and the top of the cliff was only a patch of daylight the size of a bowl; the height was despair-inducing.

In his severely injured state, trying to climb up alone was an almost impossible task.

But he did not give up.

He picked up a sharp stone from the ground and began the arduous task of carving footholds into the cliff face.

Every strike cost him immense effort and aggravated his injuries, nearly causing him to faint.

But he gritted his teeth, strike after strike.

The night wind howled, cold and piercing to the bone.

Several times, he nearly fell due to physical exhaustion, only holding on through a sheer, stubborn will to never give in.

Just as his strength failed him and he was about to let go—

A faint warmth suddenly emanated from the dark gold ring on his index finger.

Though the warmth was weak, it allowed a sliver of power to regenerate within his nearly withered Dantian.

Qin Yun's spirits lifted. Using this sudden surge of strength, he lunged upward and finally grabbed a rock at the edge of the cliff top.

When he rolled onto the top of the cliff and lay on the cold ground, he was completely drained of strength.

He did not linger. After a brief moment to catch his breath, he dragged his heavily injured body, identified his direction, and shuffled step by step toward Jianghan City.

...

When that blood-soaked, ragged figure appeared before the gates of the Qin Family, the guards were first stunned, and then a chorus of shouts erupted.

"It's the Young Lord! The Young Lord has returned!"

The news spread through the entire Qin Family estate at top speed.

Qin Zhan and his wife rushed over upon hearing the news. When they saw their son's wretched state, the joy on their faces was instantly replaced by heartache and fear.

"Yun'er!"

Qin Yun's mother rushed forward, pulling her son into her arms as tears streamed down her face.

Qin Zhan looked at the wounds on his son's body—some so deep that bone was visible—and his extremely weak aura. A surge of fury rose from his chest.

He spun around and faced the Family Elders behind him, his voice terrifyingly cold.

"Investigate!"

"Investigate this for me! Even if you have to overturn all of Jianghan City, you must drag the mastermind out!"

Under the Clan Chief's fury, the entire Qin Family began to operate at high speed.

Qin Yun was quickly taken back to his room. The best physicians in the city were summoned overnight, and various rare healing Medicinal Pills were continuously fed to him.

The Qin Family's investigation followed immediately.

The location of the assassination, the residual auras, the recent unusual movement of people in the city... all clues were like invisible threads, ultimately pointing in the same direction.

The Wang Family.

When Qin Zhan received the news, he was so angry that he crushed the teacup in his hand on the spot.

He immediately led men to the Wang Family estate to demand an explanation.

However, the Wang Family's head had long expected him to come and put on an act of flat-out denial.

"Clan Chief Qin, what is the meaning of this? While my Wang Family has had friction with your Qin Family, we would not stoop to such lowly tactics."

"If you have evidence, you are welcome to take it to the City Lord's Manor for an argument. If not, do not make baseless accusations and slander my Wang Family's honor!"

Faced with this rogue-like rhetoric, Qin Zhan trembled with rage but was temporarily helpless.

All the evidence was indirect and could not form ironclad proof.

In the end, the confrontation ended without a resolution.

Qin Zhan could only return to the Qin Family filled with fury and frustration.

This disturbance completely shattered the already fragile balance between the three great families of Jianghan City.

The Qin Family and the Wang Family were now in a situation of irreconcilable enmity.

Meanwhile, the Zhu Family expressed their firm support for the Qin Family once again during this turmoil, making the Alliance between the two families even more solid.

After experiencing this scare, Qin Yun's parents took their son's safety extremely seriously.

A ban was issued from Qin Zhan's mouth.

Without his permission, Qin Yun was not allowed to step a single foot out of the Qin Family estate.

...

A month later, under the accumulation of a massive amount of resources, Qin Yun's injuries finally fully recovered.

He threw himself back into his Cultivation.

However, he soon discovered that something was wrong.

The circulation of spiritual energy was not as smooth as before, as if an invisible membrane was blocking his Meridians.

His Cultivation speed had also significantly slowed down.

Previously, one hour of his Cultivation was enough to match several days of work for an ordinary Cultivator.

But now, he felt no different from those ordinary Family disciples.

"Is it a lingering effect of the injuries?"

Qin Yun furrowed his brow, a hint of doubt arising in his heart.

He thought the assassination and the fall from the cliff had left some undetectable internal injury in his body, affecting his state of mind and Cultivation.

He didn't pay it much mind, treating it as a temporary Bottleneck.

He doubled his Cultivation time, working harder than ever before.

He believed that as long as he worked hard enough, he would surely break through this obstacle and return to his Peak.

However, day after day, month after month passed.

His cultivation base not only failed to advance an inch but instead fell into a stagnant state that made him uneasy.

He began to grow anxious.

That talent he was once so proud of seemed to have vanished overnight.

He poured all his time into Cultivation, trying to find that former feeling.

In the dead of night.

Qin Yun sat cross-legged on a prayer mat in his room, eyes tightly shut, guiding the spiritual energy in his body to strike at the next minor stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm.

Once.

Twice.

Ten times.

No matter how hard he tried, that barrier remained motionless, as if it were simply insurmountable.

Fine beads of sweat broke out on Qin Yun's forehead, and his heart grew increasingly agitated.

Just as he was about to give up and take a temporary rest—

A faint sense of emptiness suddenly came from deep within his Dantian.

Qin Yun's heart sank instantly.

He immediately sank his Divine Thought into his Dantian to investigate carefully.

The next moment, his heart jolted, and his whole body went cold.

His spiritual energy, which had already been refined to the extreme, was actually missing a sliver.

Though it was only an insignificant sliver, he could feel it clearly.

That was not normal consumption from Cultivation.

It had vanished into thin air.

His cultivation base had not only failed to progress, but it had instead... regressed.